OK ZIVA MAY BE IN THIS CHAPTER -BE PATIENT!!!
Two Years…
The rain was hammering down the windows of the NCIS building like sheets of steel. The sound in the bull ring was deafening, as the windows took another heavy beating. Tony sat staring out of the window trying to get his mind to fix on the case they were dealing with. A marine corporal Vince Rodgers had gone missing three months ago, the marine corp. smelt a rat and asked NCIS to take a look into it. They went to his apartment and found signs of a serious struggle.
Gibbs being Gibbs wasn't going to rest till he had found Rodgers but Tony being Tony knew there was an almost zero chance that he was still alive. Tony sifted mindlessly threw files of data and information that had been stored on the corporals computer. Tony's mind was steadily turning into jelly, the letters flickered before his eyes but didn't arrange into a coherent pattern.
Tony groaned and slapped himself on the cheeks to try and wake up, he looked at Gibbs who was on his third cup of coffee already. This case was proving tedious and tempers were fraying. McGee had fled to Abby's after Gibbs had thrown a stapler at him. He had been a while, Tony thought.
Speaking of the Devil Tony grinned as the elevator doors opened at McGee ran to Gibbs desk.
"Boss…" he said breathlessly.
Gibbs looked up expectantly:
"Yes, you know where he is?" Gibbs barked
"No well, not really." McGee stuttered looking fir the best phraseology.
"Spit it out McGee!" Gibbs ordered, his voice raised to a crescendo.
"What if the Corporal is in Hospital." McGee said
"We have already looked at Bethesda and sent his name to ever hospital in the area." Gibbs fired back.
"No, what if he has no identity. He has drugged and beaten then dumped somewhere with no ID." McGee rushed.
"Fingerprints," Gibbs said.
"Hospitals don't have access to records, only the military one do. They send out a report but they often get lost in the state system. I have contacted every hospital in the area to find out if any of them have any John Does. There is a small hospital just south of here which takes all the nameless people. They have four John Does at the moment and one of them matches our Petty Officers description." McGee finished.
"Tony, Gas the truck" Gibbs shouted as he marched to the elevator throwing his cold cup of coffee in the bin by Tony's desk.
"On it Boss!" Tony called to the closing doors.
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The floor by the entrance of the hospital was wet with rain, their shoes squeaked delicately on the floor. Tony could smell disinfectant and bleach. The over cleanliness which made everything shone clinically white. The floors were white, the walls, the doors and even this was bathed in a surreal white light from the lights above.
The reached the reception of the ward, a thin women was staring into a computer screen chewing her lip whilst reading.
Gibbs cleared his throat.
"Can I help you?" she asked her blue eyes flickering over the trio.
Her voice was warm enough, though there was a slightly hostile edge.
Gibbs showed her his badge.
"NCIS, we are here to have a look at the patients to see if any of them are a missing marine." Gibbs said.
The receptionist smiled and nodded.
"Yes of course, go ahead. We are always very suspicious of people coming in here. Some of these poor people are ex gang members. It pays to be cautious." She said turning to a stack of files.
"We are looking for this man," Gibbs asked "Have you seen him?"
Suddenly a large built man in a white coat came over to them.
"Can I help? My name is Dr Oliver Sanders, chief Doctor on this ward." He said.
Gibbs showed him the picture and waited for some sort of response.
The doctors eyes seemed to be drinking the picture they wandered all over the picture and then he tutted. He looked at Gibbs.
"I think this is the man in room number 10 , te one at the end." He said.
"You think?" Gibbs pushed.
The doctor just raised his eyebrows at him as a way of shunning an explanation. He then turned away and picked up a clipboard. Gibbs rolled his eyebrows and walked down the corridor before McGee and Tony had time to think. They quickly hurried after him not wanting any more cutting words in their ears…
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Tony walked into the room and then stopped. He could see why it had taken the Doctor a long time to recognise the corporal from the picture. His face was burnt and his whole body was covered in a series of bandages, his hair was faint and wispy and even his eyebrows had been burned off. His skin was red raw and mangled, it looked like a steak before it has been cooked, all dripping with blood and pulsing slightly to the hum of heavy machinery. Machinery which controlled everything he does.
He picked up the file from the end of bed.
"If this is the corporal he has been in an car fire, 75 of his body has been burnt and his tox screen showed he had high levels of chemicals in them all found in weed killers."
"Contract killing boss?" McGee questioned.
Gibbs didn't even have to answer that question. He turned to Tony and said this is going to be a long day…
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It was now three am and Tony hadn't sat down all day. He couldn't even remember the last time he had a coffee. He was standing outside the corporal's room taking a five minute break before he entered the dragon's lair once more. He walked to the window and placed his cheek against it feeling the reviving cold against his flesh and watched the millions of rain drops fall into the blackness.
He turned around and looked at the notice board and sneered, to see all the patients had no names only numbers. The human body had been reduced to a number; he walked up and down the hall trying to clear his head.
He watched a nurse struggling with a trolley and a basket, each full of bottles and boxes of some kind. Tony went up to her and flashed her a smile.
"Need a hand?" he asked.
She smiled back.
"Oh, if you don't mind, I am just going into here." She said motioning at a door.
Tony opened it for her and followed her into the room carrying the basket of bottles. He couldn't help chuckling at her.
Then he stopped laughing and walked out of the room.
Not looking where he was going he walked right into McGee and Gibbs.
"You Ok Tony? You look like you have seen a ghost?" McGee said.
"You could say that…" Tony whispered.